Provenance
by SkyQuill
Summary: Before Harry, there were Lily and James. Welcome to their world, in a time that Voldemort was still just a rising threat, lives were still whole, and Tom the barman still had most of his teeth. This is the beginning of it all.
1. Chapter 1: Aboard the Hogwarts Express

**Provenance**

**.:..:..:.**

**Disclaimer**

_J.K Rowling owns the material. I do not._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: Aboard the Hogwarts Express<strong>

Steam spewed from the mouth of the scarlet engine as the whistle sounded, signaling its imminent departure. Lily Evans hastened to place her trunk on top of the luggage rack. Rising on her toes, she struggled to slide if the last couple of inches.

"Lily, dear, I think you're about to take off," Mrs. Evans called from the platform. She was peering through the door, looking small and out of place surrounded by the usual chaos of platform nine and three quarters. She flinched as a snitch zoomed past.

"I know, mum, sorry." Lily leapt down from the train and opened her arms to embrace her mother. "You'll be alright, won't you?"

"Of course, darling," she assured her. "Don't you go worrying about me." She took a step back and held Lily at arm's length so as to get a better look at her. With a watery smile, she reached out and smoothed her daughter's hair, the very same shade as her husband's had been. "He'd be so proud of you, you know. He always was."

Lily reached up to take her mother's hand. "I know, mum."

The whistle sounded again, a final warning. Lily drew back, letting her mother's fingers slide from hers. She hesitated by the door. This would be the first time her mother had been alone since her father had passed away. Petunia had left a couple of weeks ago for her new job.

"Go on, Lily," Mrs. Evans urged her.

Lily climbed onto the train. She had to jockey for position amongst the other students learning out the window to kiss their families goodbye.

"I'll miss you," she told her mom.

"I'll miss you too, dear. Take care of yourself, and be safe!"

"I will, mum. Same goes for you."

"And write to me now and then, won't you?"

Lily smiled. "Of course. Oh! And don't forget! The guard will help you back through the gate. You can't just go through in case the muggles—I mean the people—"

"I know, I know," her mother sighed. "I've been doing this for seven years now, remember? I'm sure I'll manage just fine." She waved as the train lurched forwards.

"Goodbye mum. I love you," Lily called.

"I love you too sweetheart."

Lily waved as the train increased its speed.

"Say hi to Severus for me…" Mrs. Evans voice was lost to the wind as the train rounded the bend, but not before Lily caught these last few words.

"Severus sch-meverus," she muttered to herself, turning to leave the throng of students at the door.

She ducked into an empty compartment.

Lily decided to wait here for a few moments until the initial influx of students settled into their various compartments. A couple of times the door flew open and a few battered looking first years stumbled in. Lily would have offered them her seat—she had to leave soon for the Heads compartment anyways—but they tended to run off before she could speak. She tried to remember if she had been that terrified on her first day on the train and decided that no, she definitely had not.

When the hallway seemed reasonably calm (or at least like a herd of centaurs wasn't stampeding past) Lily retrieved her robes from her trunk and changed. She made her way to the front of the train, keeping her eyes open for her friends as she went. Custom told her that they had probably taken their usual carriage near the end. She would have gone there herself, but she and her mom had gotten to the station late (damn muggle traffic) and had jumped on the first available carriage they'd found. She would just have to find them afterwards; hopefully this wouldn't take too long.

The Heads compartment was empty when she arrived, save for a singular envelope resting on the cushions. Guessing that they were the instructions, she took a seat next to it and removed her badge from her pocket. She pinned it to the front of her robes, just where her prefect's badge used to sit. The 'H' was a little elaborate, she thought, studying it upside down. What was wrong with plain old letter script? A little subtlety never hurt anyone.

This brought her to wondering who had been made head boy. She hadn't heard anything, but then, she hadn't had much contact with anyone since her father died. She thought that the two likeliest candidates were George Ogden and Remus Lupin. Both had been prefects for the past two years running and both were at the top of their classes. She was trying to decide which of the two she'd rather work with—Lupin was a known marauder but George had an ego the size of a Hungarian Horntail—when the door slid open and no other then James Potter walked inside. For an instant, Lily could only stare.

"What are you doing here?" she finally blurted.

James smiled at her, his usual cocky grin.

"Good morning Evans," he said brightly.

Lily's eyes narrowed. "Are you lost?"

James appeared not to have heard her. "Congratulations," he said, nodding at her badge. "Head girl—brilliant! Knew you'd get it."

Lily mentally cursed herself for pinning on the badge so soon.

"You didn't answer my question," she reminded him.

"No, quite happily, I am not lost," he answered.

"I meant the other one."

"Which one was that?" James asked with a maddening air of politeness.

Lily gritted her teeth together. "What are you doing here?"

"The same as you," he replied with an innocent expression.

Lily stared at him.

"What?" he finally asked, quailing under her suspicious gaze.

"Let's see it then," she demanded.

"Er, see what?"

"The badge, Potter," Lily replied, exasperated.

James shrugged and removed the object from his pocket. He tossed it to her. Lily turned it over in her hands in disbelief. It was identical to hers—obnoxious 'H' and all. She tapped it with her wand, searching—almost hoping—for a sign of tampering.

"Are you finished?" James asked.

"I…" Lily faltered.

"You what?"

"I don't know what to say," Lily finished, swallowing the questions she really wanted to ask. _Who'd you nick this off of?_ Followed closely by, _what are you up to?_ She handed it back to him and watched as he pinned it to the front of his robes. The sight was uncanny.

"You know," James said conversationally, "Ordinarily, I might find your shock rather offensive."

"And unordinarily?" Lily questioned.

James grinned. "Well, if I'm being completely honest, I was a tad surprised myself."

Lily didn't smile back. She was still trying to convince herself this wasn't a joke. "I thought Lupin for sure…or…" she murmured under her breath.

"Look, Evans," James began. "I know that we, er, haven't exactly gotten along in the past and that we didn't leave under the best terms last year…"

Lily looked at him incredulously. "You set a lethifold on the Slytherins."

"That wasn't what it looked like!" James protested.

"AND THEN, as Filch was dragging you to the dungeons, you had the nerve to ask me out. Again. In front of everyone, even after I've told you time and time again…"

"I didn't think I was going to survive that one," James mumbled meekly.

BANG!

Both Gryffindors jumped. Lily leapt up from her seat. The envelope she'd sat down beside was smoking. Liberally.

"What is that?" James asked.

"Our instructions…I think."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"It got tired of waiting, do you reckon?" James mused.

Lily crossed her arms. "Well, go on, open it then."

James looked at her; she raised an eyebrow. He sighed and took the letter gingerly in his fingers. Given his lack of reaction, Lily assumed it wasn't dangerous.

James read the letter out loud.

"So that's it then," he said once he had finished.

"Easy enough," Lily remarked. She was already rehearsing the instructions in her head, eager to get out of here and away from Potter. Address the prefects, patrol the corridors from time to time, supervise the luggage once they stopped…

"We should probably go and see the prefects," James suggested.

"Yes, we should."

"Right-o."

"Their compartment is down this way." Lily pointed.

"Oh, okay."

"You'll have to open the door," Lily reminded him. He was standing in the way of the entrance.

"Er, right. After you," James said, bowing her out.

Lily sighed inwardly as she passed him. How on earth had James Potter gotten to be Head Boy? Perhaps Dumbledore really was losing his marbles. Whatever the reasoning, she had a feeling that this year was going to be memorable one.

And whether that was a good thing or not, she hadn't decided.

**A/N:** So I finally decided to go through my story, "Before it Began" and clean it up a bit. And by a bit, I mean a lot. When I finished my last edition, the sixth and seventh books hadn't come out yet. Actually, I'm not even sure the fifth had. So as you can imagine, there's a lot that needs to change if it's going to be kept canon. And I'm going to try. Not to mention improvements to the grammar, structure, and all that jazz. It won't be perfect (I'm too busy with other projects) but it will be better. In many ways, it's going to be a brand new story. Please comment me if you find any discrepancies or errors.

Reviews are much loved. I don't know when I'll update next so don't ask me. Cheers.


	2. Chapter 2: Old Friends

**Provenance**

**.:..:..:.**

**Disclaimer**

_J.K Rowling owns the material. I do not._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2: Old Friends<strong>

"Prongs, old boy! Long time no see!" Sirius leapt up and wrung James's hand as he entered the compartment.

"Oi, get off me. I just saw you an hour ago. Not to mention all summer."

"Now, now, that's no way to treat an old friend," Sirius chastised him.

"Oh shut up Padfoot," James sighed. He sank onto the seat, exhausted.

"Everything alright?" Remus asked, glancing up from his book, the latest edition of the Standard Book of Spells. The shadows beneath his eyes were looking more pronounced than usual.

James scowled and nicked a chocolate frog from on top of Peter's pile. "Brff-illfiant," he managed through a mouthful.

Peter watched him remorsefully as he swallowed. "So, did you…"

"Let's cut to the chase, shall we?" Sirius interrupted. He leant forward, fixing James with an intent gaze. "Is she, or isn't she?"

James hesitated and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, she is."

"And?" Sirius pressed.

Even Remus and Peter were watching him closely.

"And nothing," James replied.

Sirius spluttered.

"Well that's better than bad news, isn't it?" Remus asked tactfully.

"S'pose so." James made a face and reached for another frog which Peter conveniently managed to knock onto the floor.

Sirius was still staring at him, dumbfounded. "What happened to you being a great, big, fat-headed troll?" he asked.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but she didn't call me anything."

"I'm sure she's just saving it for later," Sirius decided.

James shrugged.

"Well, for someone who didn't get screamed at or dismembered in some way, you seem awfully glum," Remus observed.

"Wouldn't you be?" James asked.

"Er, no?"

"I mean, come on, I was expecting…something. We're going to be working together all year. She didn't threaten me, or make me promise to behave, or…"

"You mean she didn't confess her undying love for you," Remus said shrewdly.

James glared.

"Look, James, you can't expect her to warm up to you right away. You have to give her time. Let her see that you've changed."

"She had all last year," James shot back with a hint of despair.

"Yes," Remus answered patiently, "But your stunt with the Slytherins didn't exactly help things, did it?"

"_Our_ stunt," Sirius corrected.

"Your stunt," James said furiously.

"You opened the box!" Sirius retorted.

"I didn't know what was in it!"

"The point is," Remus interrupted. "People don't just change overnight."

"Yeah, kind of like you old pal," Sirius grinned, slapping James on the back.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, the marauders still have some life left in them," he answered.

Peter clapped.

"We can't—it can't be like it used to be," James protested. He thought about the _incident_ that had occurred two years ago. It could have ended for him then.

"Don't be such a spoil sport," Sirius accused.

"I mean it Padfoot. I'm not saying…we're not going to have any fun. But we're older now. Maybe it's time we stopped goofing around so much…"

"Not to mention you're Head Boy now," Remus pointed out.

James glanced at him, searching for a hint of resentment in his face. There was none. "It should have been you Moony," he said as way of an apology.

Remus shook his head. "That last thing I need this year is to be busy worrying about everyone while I'm trying to study for NEWTs and dealing with my…problem."

"By everyone, you mean us, right?" Sirius grinned.

"Precisely."

"So, you're still alive," a new voice interjected. The marauders looked up simultaneously as the newcomer stepped in. Cadence Summers crossed her arms as she stood over them, a hint of amusement on her face. She was staring at James.

"I'll admit, I'm a little surprised to see you're still in one piece," she continued.

"I'm relieved to be able to say the same thing about you," Sirius commented, his gaze travelling from the hem of her robes up to her neckline.

"You're such a pig, Black."

"Nah, you must have me confused with my brother, Regulus…"

"You didn't jinx her I hope?" Cadence asked, ignoring him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," James answered.

Cadence rolled her eyes. "No explosions, no screaming, the train is still in tact…"

"I don't know why everyone thinks they're so funny today," James remarked.

"It's not us," Cadence smiled. "I mean, what are the odds? You and Lily, the two heads. Dumbledore must really have it out for the school."

"Maybe he sees something you don't," Remus suggested quietly.

Cadence sighed. "I hope so. For all of our sakes."

"Ha-ha," James said.

"It's nothing against you, Potter. But let's face it. When have you and Lily ever gotten along? No, don't answer that," she warned as James opened his mouth in protest.

"Did you come here for any reason other than to annoy me?" James asked.

"I was hoping you'd be able to tell me where she's gotten off to. I know you had to debrief the prefects, but I was counting on her screaming to lead me to her after."

James elected to ignore this last part. "She didn't say."

"Helpful," Cadence sighed.

"I'm not a Hufflepuff."

Peter chortled. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Well, I'd better see if I can find her. Good seeing you," Cadence said, "Alive, I mean." She smiled brightly and exited from the compartment.

James waved sarcastically.

"See you," Sirius echoed.

* * *

><p>"Where's Cadence?" Lily asked, taking a seat in the last compartment. Serena and Callidora sat opposite to her, smiling. She hadn't told them about Potter yet.<p>

"She went looking for you," Serena answered. "She was muttering something about Potter, seemed to think you two would already be fighting or something."

The smile faded from Lily's face.

"You didn't," Callie gasped. "That must be a record; we're not even at school!"

"No, we didn't fight," Lily sighed. "It's just…Potter's been made Head Boy." Even the words sounded strange on her tongue. She shuddered a little as she said it.

"You're joking," Serena gaped.

"Nope, dead serious actually. Is there any food left? I'm starving?" Lily dove gratefully into a stack of cauldron cakes Callie passed to her.

"How'd he manage that one?" Callie asked weakly.

Lily shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine," she said, swallowing.

"And you didn't fight? Really?" Serena pressed.

"No, we were quite…civil."

"Civil," Serena repeated.

"Yes," Lily nodded. "Actually, I think I was a little rude."

"After last year, I'm amazed that's it," Callie remarked.

"It's going to be a long year; maybe he's trying to make this work as much as I am," Lily suggested, still reflecting on her meeting with Potter. All through the Prefect's meeting he had exhibited nothing less than appropriate Head Boy behavior.

She was still waiting for the dung bombs to drop.

"Yeah, maybe," Serena echoed doubtfully. She and Callidora shared a look.

"What?" Lily demanded.

"Well, don't you think, maybe this is just another ploy of his?" Serena asked.

"If you're telling me you think he hoodwinked Dumbledore for the sake of—"

"No, but it's a brilliant opportunity isn't it?" Serena interrupted.

"Opportunity or not, it doesn't mean anything. I'll just have to…keep my eyes open for a while. Make sure he's taking this job seriously."

"Yeah," Serena mused.

Callie nodded. "Right."

"So…how were your summers?" Lily asked, eager to distract them. She'd had enough talk about Potter for one day.

They lapsed into this subject happily, discussing at length their summer employment, affairs, and family drama. Serena who was also a muggleborn amused them with stories about her receptionist position at the tanning salon ("You mean people actually pay to lie in a stove to turn their skin colour!") and Callidora regaled them with tales of the Scottish beater she'd been seeing. As it turned out, he wasn't an actual beater but a Knight Bus trainee who occasionally took a beater stick to his passengers.

"Needless to say, the job didn't last long," Callie finished.

Serena found this hilarious. "And you actually believed him? I thought you Ravenclaws were supposed to be wise…"

Callidora retorted with something nasty about Gryffindor house but Lily missed it because at that moment, Severus happened to pass by their compartment. She ducked her head quickly, but not before a fleeting moment of eye contact with her once best friend.

"Lily? Lily! Are you going to stand for this?" Serena demanded.

Lily glanced up at her friends blankly. "What?"

"Someone's a space case today…"

"Have you spoken to, well, you know..." Callie whispered, ignoring Serena's grumbling. She had obviously noticed the exchange.

"No, of course not," Lily said dismissively, glancing down at her hands. "I told you, I'm done with him."

"I thought that over the summer you might have…"

"I didn't even see him," Lily answered. This was a lie. She had seen Severus multiple times, but she had always hurried past him, refusing to even acknowledge his presence. He had made his choices and she had made hers. That was all there was to it.

"Oh, well, I saw him on the platform," Callie remarked.

"Oh," Lily said with forced disinterest.

"He wasn't with his usual crowd."

"Who are we talking about?" Serena demanded.

Lily was grateful that Cadence chose that moment to walk in.

"Hey Lily, did you miss me?" she beamed.

**A/N: **Reviews are much loved; they are the best source of motivation. I hope you're this enjoying so far. I know I am. Cheers!


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